The Kannon Sutra

Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra is a popular devotional text in East Asian Buddhism. It is often referred to as the “Avalokiteśvara Sutra”, or Kannongyō (観音経) in Japanese. Despite the name, it is not a stand-alone text, but simply a famous chapter in the larger Lotus Sutra. This particular chapter is the main introduction to one of the most popular Bodhisattvas in Buddhism, Avalokitesvara. It describes attributes of Kannon that are familiar Buddhists, such as his vows to help all beings who call on him, his ability to take on various forms to teach people, and his unwavering compassion to lead all beings to Enlightenment.

So, the Sutra is popular among devotees of Kannon/Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, though in practice people often chant the verse section only. I was lucky to find a full copy of the sutra for chanting after visiting the famous Sensōji temple in Tokyo, though it’s very, very long. For now, I will post the verse section only, which is still pretty long, but often used in Japanese Buddhist chanting, such as the Tendai liturgy linked here.

A note on the characters. The prayer book I have uses the original, classical Chinese characters, but some characters are so old and obscure that they have modern simplified versions in common use now. For example 應 is replaced by 応. I wanted to keep the original characters, but some are too obscure and I can’t find them in my Japanese input program on my Mac, nor do other Japanese sites use them when posting the sutra. So, I decided to go with the modern equivalents like everyone else. Readability is more important, I think.

Can’t read the characters?

If you’re having trouble reading the Kanji characters, you might have one or two problems with your computer:

Your computer may not have Asian fonts installed. In Windows you have to enable UTF8 and East Asian fonts under the Control Panel. Modern Mac computers are fully compatible already.

Your browser may be assuming the wrong character set. If you use a relatively modern browser and use UTF8 as character set, you should be able to read fine. IE, Firefox and Safari all read this fine as far as I can tell.

Even if not, then you can still use the romanized characters. Also check out this excellent page for more information.

Disclaimer and Legal Info

I hereby release this into the public domain. Please use it as you see fit, but if you attribute it to this site, greatly appreciated. Also, please bear in mind this is an amateur work, and should not be taken too seriously.

Dedication

I dedicate this effort to all sentient beings everywhere. May all beings be well, and may they all attain perfect peace.

Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu

The Kannon Sutra, verse section

Introduction(reads: The 25th Chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the Universal Gate of Kanzeon Bodhisattva)

妙

法

蓮

華

經

観

世

音

菩

薩

Myo

ho

ren

ge

kyo

kan

ze

on

bo

satsu

普

門

品

偈

fu

mon

bon

ge

Verse Section

世

尊

妙

相

具

我

今

重

問

彼

Se

son

myo

so

gu

ga

kon

ju

mon

bi

佛

子

何

因

縁

名

為

観

世

音

bus-

shi

ga

in

nen

myo

i

kan

ze

on

具

足

妙

相

尊

偈

答

無

盡

意

gu

soku

myo

so

son

ge

to

mu

jin

ni

如

聽

観

音

行

善

応

諸

方

所

nyo

cho

kan

on

gyo

zen

no

sho

ho

jo

弘

誓

深

如

海

歴

劫

不

思

議

gu

zei

jin

nyo

kai

ryak-

ko

fu

shi

gi

侍

多

千

億

佛

発

大

清

浄

願

ji

ta

sen

noku

butsu

hotsu

dai

sho

jo

gan

我

爲

如

略

説

聞

名

及

見

身

ga

i

nyo

ryaku

setsu

mon

myo

gyu

ken

shin

心

念

不

空

過

能

滅

諸

有

苦

shin

nen

fu

ku

ka

no

metsu

sho

u

ku

假

使

興

害

意

推

落

大

火

坑

ke

shi

ko

gai

i

sui

raku

dai

ka

kyo

念

彼

観

音

力

火

坑

変

成

池

nen

bi

kan

on

riki

ka

kyo

hen

jo

ji

或

漂

流

巨

海

龍

魚

諸

鬼

難

waku

hyo

ru

go

kai

ryu

go

sho

ki

nan

念

彼

観

音

力

波

浪

不

能

没

nen

bi

kan

on

riki

ha

ro

fu

no

motsu

或

在

須

弥

峰

爲

人

所

推

堕

waku

zai

shu

mi

bu

i

nin

sho

sui

da

念

彼

観

音

力

如

日

虚

空

住

nen

bi

kan

on

riki

nyo

nichi

ko

ku

ju

或

被

悪

人

逐

堕

落

金

剛

山

waku

bi

aku

nin

jiku

da

raku

kon

go

sen

念

彼

観

音

力

不

能

損

一

毛

nen

bi

kan

on

riki

fu

no

son

ichi

mo

或

値

怨

賊

繞

各

執

刀

加

害

waku

ji

on

zoku

nyo

kaku

shu

to

ka

gai

念

彼

観

音

力

咸

即

起

慈

心

nen

bi

kan

on

riki

gen

soku

ki

ji

shin

或

遭

王

難

苦

臨

刑

欲

壽

終

waku

so

o

nan

ku

rin

gyo

yoku

ju

shu

念

彼

観

音

力

刀

尋

段

段

壊

nen

bi

kan

on

riki

do

jin

dan

dan

ne

或

囚

禁

枷

鎖

手

足

被

柱

械

waku

ju

kin

ka

sa

shu

soku

bi

chu

gai

念

彼

観

音

力

釋

然

得

解

脱

nen

bi

kan

on

riki

shaku

nen

toku

ge

datsu

呪

詛

諸

毒

藥

所

欲

害

身

者

shu

so

sho

doku

yaku

sho

yoku

gai

shin

ja

念

彼

観

音

力

還

著

於

本

人

nen

bi

kan

on

riki

gen

jaku

o

hon

nin

或

遇

悪

羅

刹

毒

龍

者

鬼

等

waku

gu

aku

ra

setsu

doku

ryu

sha

ki

to

念

彼

観

音

力

時

悉

不

敢

害

nen

bi

kan

on

riki

ji

shitsu

bu

kan

gai

若

悪

獣

圍

繞

利

牙

爪

可

怖

nyaku

aku

shu

i

nyo

ri

ge

so

ka

fu

念

彼

観

音

力

疾

走

無

邊

方

nen

bi

kan

on

riki

jitsu

so

mu

hen

bo

蚖

蛇

及

蝮

蠍

氣

毒

煙

火

然

gan

ja

gyu

fuku

katsu

ke

doku

en

ka

nen

念

彼

観

音

力

尋

聲

自

回

去

nen

bi

kan

on

riki

jin

sho

ji

e

ko

雲

雷

鼓

掣

電

降

雹

澍

大

雨

un

rai

ku

sei

den

go

baku

ju

dai

u

念

彼

観

音

力

応

時

得

消

散

nen

bi

kan

on

riki

o

ji

toku

sho

san

衆

生

被

困

厄

無

量

苦

逼

身

shu

jo

bi

kon

yaku

mu

ryo

ku

hitsu

shin

観

音

妙

智

力

能

救

世

間

苦

kan

on

myo

chi

riki

no

ku

se

ken

ku

具

足

神

通

力

廣

修

智

方

便

gu

soku

jin

zu

riki

so

shu

chi

ho

ben

十

方

諸

國

土

無

剎

不

現

身

jip-

po

sho

koku

do

mu

setsu

fu

gen

shin

種

種

諸

惡

趣

地

獄

鬼

畜

生

shu

shu

sho

aku

shu

ji

zoku

ki

chiku

sho

生

老

病

死

苦

以

漸

悉

令

滅

sho

ro

byo

shi

ku

i

zen

shitsu

ryo

metsu

真

観

清

淨

観

廣

大

智

慧

観

shin

kan

sho

jo

kan

ko

dai

chi

e

kan

悲

観

及

慈

観

常

願

常

瞻

仰

hi

kan

gyu

ji

kan

ko

dai

chi

e

kan

無

垢

清

淨

光

慧

日

破

諸

闇

mu

ku

sho

jo

ko

e

nichi

ha

sho

an

能

伏

災

風

火

普

明

照

世

間

no

buku

sai

fu

ka

fu

myo

sho

se

ken

悲

體

戒

雷

震

慈

意

妙

大

雲

hi

tai

kai

rai

shin

ji

i

myo

dai

un

澍

甘

露

法

雨

滅

除

煩

惱

焰

ju

kan

ro

ho

u

metsu

jo

bon

no

en

諍

訟

経

官

處

怖

畏

軍

陣

中

jo

ju

kyo

kan

jo

fu

i

gun

jin

chu

念

彼

観

音

力

衆

怨

悉

退

散

nen

bi

kan

on

riki

shu

on

shitsu

tai

san

妙

音

観

世

音

梵

音

海

潮

音

myo

on

kan

ze

on

bon

on

kai

jo

on

勝

彼

世

間

音

是

故

須

常

念

sho

hi

se

ken

on

ze

ko

shu

jo

nen

念

念

勿

生

疑

観

世

音

淨

聖

nen

nen

motsu

sho

gi

kan

ze

on

jo

sho

於

苦

惱

死

厄

能

為

作

依

怙

o

ku

no

shi

yaku

no

i

sa

e

go

具

一

切

功

德

慈

眼

視

衆

生

gu

is-

sai

ku

doku

ji

gen

ji

shu

jo

福

聚

海

無

量

是

故

應

頂

礼

fuku

ju

kai

mu

ryo

ze

ko

o

cho

rai

Closing

爾

時

持

地

菩

薩

即

從

座

起

ni

ji

ji

ji

bo

sa

soku

ju

za

ki

前

白

佛

言

世

尊

若

有

衆

生

zen

byaku

butsu

gon

se

son

nyaku

u

shu

sho

聞

是

観

世

音

菩

薩

品

自

在

mon

ze

kan

ze

on

bo

sa

bon

ji

zai

之

業

普

門

示

現

神

通

力

者

shi

go

fu

mon

ji

gen

jin

zu

riki

sha

當

知

是

人

功

徳

不

少

佛

説

to

chi

ze

nin

ku

doku

fu

sho

bus-

setsu

是

普

門

品

時

衆

中

八

萬

四

ze

fu

mon

bon

ji

shu

ju

hachi

man

shi

千

衆

生

皆

發

無

等

等

阿

耨

sen

shu

jo

kai

hotsu

mu

to

do

a

noku

多

羅

三

藐

三

菩

提

心

ta

ra

san

myaku

san

bo

dai

shin

End

Thanks!

Thanks to a blogger here, who provided a nice Chinese version of the sutra. This allowed me to find certain characters that aren’t in modern Japanese software on the Mac, but still exist in Chinese use, which in turn allowed saved me hours of time by copying and pasting the characters I needed. :)

Also I want to thank this website and this website, which both provided helpful references when I wanted to find a modern version of a Chinese character, and to get the proper liturgical format. :)

Great work, Annie!

Translation

This sutra is much too long to translate myself, but Burton Watson has provided an excellent translation of the verse section, which others posted here. The verse section is the large indented section near the end.

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4 Responses to The Kannon Sutra

I am currently working on a copy of this, so I thought I would take a look. I bought a shakyo set at Sensoji–they are having a campaign to collect one million copies. It is just the verse part of chap 25. However, going directly to the verse section, for the title, they do not use the number, it says ‘Myoho renge kyo kanzeon bosatsu fu mon bon ge’ or 普門品…I can’t find the ‘ge’…maybe that’s why you left it out? It is not in Nelson. and it’s not in my Japanese dictionary, Kojirin.

Well, that is the beauty of copying by hand. There are more than 600 kanji to write, I am currently about 1/3 of the way through. So here is a bump, maybe more people will take another look at the Lotus Sutra.
Regards,
JL

As for the title, you’re probably right in that’s how it’s done. Since the prayer book I bought shows the entire sutra, it actually lists the title that way (25th chapter, etc, etc), but for liturgical purposes, maybe that’s not right. I left it as-is though for now. Maybe I’ll correct it later once I know for sure. The Tendai link above does chant it the way you specified, so you’re probably right.

does anyone have a pin-yin ver of the sutra? or know the origins of its existence? like, did the ancient tendai japanese just write it in chinese as that was their practice with early buddhism in japan(or something to that effect?)